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October 23, 2003
Kiss Verizon Good-bye?
Posted by Arnold
That's what this guy says.
Skype is engaging in a fair fight. It's not stealing phone calls. It's just turning the Internet into a cheap and effective phone system that anyone can access. (And the sound is amazing: In full stereo, it's FM to your telephone's AM.) The biggest potential losers in all this are the descendants of Ma Bell—those regional local telephone companies that were spun off some two decades ago.
I wouldn't load up on put options on Verizon just yet. Here is how things look from my household.
We don't get cable TV. I know that makes us weirdos (just ask my daughters), but it means that at the margin it would cost us a lot to get our Internet connection through cable.
My Verizon DSL account has been down for a *total* of less than 10 hours in two years. A lot of cable Internet users I've talked to would be thrilled to get through a week where they're only down for 10 hours.
I figured that my daughters would not want their own land lines when they got to college--they would be satisfied with cell phones. Wrong.
Look, I'm not bullish on the land-line phone business by any means. Even cell phones could look uneconomical if spread-spectrum technology breaks through the regulatory logjam. But I think that the process of blowing up legacy phone service will take longer than a decade--much longer.
Comments (3)
| Category: telecom, FCC
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1. David Thomson on October 23, 2003 02:04 PM writes...
We will almost certainly cancel our standard telephone service in the next few years. Unfortunately, our burglar alarm contract will not be up until that time. I have every intention to switch even that service over to our cable provider, Time Warner. Also, I had far more trouble with my previous DSL connection than I do now with cable.
Cell phones are vastly superior to their land based competitors. I just can’t see why anyone would want to keep the latter except for a backup. A family with small children might not wish to provide them with cell phones. Other than that, cell phones are the way to go.
Permalink to Comment2. David Thomson on October 24, 2003 05:12 PM writes...
I’ve had further time to think about this matter. The future of the major telecoms probably comes down to this: how long will people like me desire to keep our land based telephones for a backup? I have gone without cell phone service (especially after severe weather) for almost 24 hours. During this time period, my land based telephone worked perfectly well. Will this take five years, ten, or even twenty?
Permalink to Comment3. ashley spotswood on November 29, 2003 10:28 AM writes...
I am considering going completely cellular. My concern is not having a 911 feature in case of emergency, local fire and police would have no address. Is there a device other thatn a land line to stay connected to emergency numbers?
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